Just around the corner from our hotel, the menu at 40€ looked interesting, but it wasn't until the food started to arrive that I realized that we had entered a time warp and we were back in 1963. These people absolutely nail sixties French cuisine with no modifications or modernizations.
The service starts with a little glass of kir and a little pot of rillettes with bread. Also included in the price is 1/2 a bottle of wine - and decent wine at that. My wife ordered pâté maison for a starter (not realizing that rillettes are another form of pâté). It consisted of tiny chunks of pork, rather than ground pork, and came with a small salad and tiny cornichons. It was delicious. I had a plate of scallops and shrimp on a bed of mushrooms, cooked in a classic butter/garlic/parsley sauce that you would typically find on snails. For the main course my wife had a seafood platter consisting of three varieties of fish (salmon, perch and wolffish) served with cocktail shrimp and a cream sauce reminiscent of coquilles St. Jacques. I had duck a l'orange - classic sliced breast of duck with an absolutely delicious leg confit. For dessert we had the gourmet plate consisting of a profiterole, a small creme caramel and a fruit mousse cake. We finished with a coffee.
The other guests presented an interesting blend of older folk, one couple in their thirties and a delightful family out with their two grandmothers. Their two well behaved boys were totally engaged in the meal and the conversation and I marveled again how the French learn from birth how to eat in a restaurant for a one or two hour meal.
So, not a swinging hot spot, but a great adventure in nostalgia. read more